With the jury trial on August 28th approaching, last month Richard Maike moved to have the case declared complex and the trial delayed.

Maike’s motion was filed with his wife Angela, Doyce Barnes and Richard Anzalone. Faraday Hosseinipour later filed a response in support of the motion.

The DOJ didn’t object and so on August 16th Judge McKinley vacated the August 28th trial date. [Continue reading…]

Tresmore operate in the cashback MLM niche and provide a corporate address in the US state of Georgia on their website.

Further research reveals this address belongs to “Thanks Matrix”, which Tresmore marketing material suggests is an umbrella corporation:

Thanks Matrix cite the same Tresmore corporate address as their global headquarters. A Korean headquarters corporate address is also provided.

Thanks Matrix itself appears to have previously tried to launch an MLM opportunity through Go7Shop.

Go7Shop is an e-commerce platform with an attached MLM compensation plan. Alexa traffic estimates for the Go7Shop suggest it never took off.

In the Tresmore marketing slide above, Joseph Lee (right) is cited as the CEO and President of Thanks Matrix.

The Tresmore website cites Lee as President of the company and co-CEO with Peter Sohn.

The Tresmore corporate bios for Lee and Sohn contain marketing copy and provide no information about either individual.

I tried to suss out MLM histories for Lee and Sohn and turned up nothing. This in itself is highly suspicious.

A third member of corporate manage is named on the Tresmore website, Michael Krause.

Again, nothing comes up other than Krause holding the same position in TMWellbeing, another company connected to Thanks Matrix.

Read on for a full review of the Tresmore MLM opportunity. [Continue reading…]

Upto Crypto provide no information on their website about who owns or runs the business.

The Upto Crypto website domain (“uptocrypto.com”) was privately registered on July 2nd, 2017.

Certain parts of the Upto Crypto compensation plan are in French (émeraude, rubi etc.). Alexa also estimates that France is the largest source of traffic to the Upto Crypto website (26%).

This suggests that whoever is running Upto Crypto is French and/or based out of France.

As always, if an MLM company is not openly upfront about who is running or owns it, think long and hard about joining and/or handing over any money. [Continue reading…]

Alpha Cash provide no information on their website about who owns or runs the business.

The Alpha Cash website domain (“alpha-cash.com”) was privately registered on May 29th, 2017.

A “legal address” in Hong Kong is provided on the Alpha Cash website, however it appears the company is being operated from Russia. A second address provided on the Alpha Cash website is in Yekaterinburg, Russia.

Further supporting Alpha Cash being a wholly Russian company is the website presented in Russian, as well as the company’s official marketing videos. Alexa also estimate that the largest source of traffic to the Alpha Cash website is Russia (37%).

To what extent the Hong Kong address is legitimate, it appears Alpha Cash exists there in name only.

As always, if an MLM company is not openly upfront about who is running or owns it, think long and hard about joining and/or handing over any money. [Continue reading…]

I Like Bits provides no information on its website about who owns or runs the business.

The I Like Bits website domain (“ilikebits.com”) was privately registered on July 28th, 2017.

A marketing video on the I Like Bits website is hosted on a YouTube account bearing the name “opitimusX”:

OpitimusX is an alias of Sherm Mason.

Sherm Mason first popped up on BehindMLM’s radar as the admin of Magnetic Builder.

Magnetic Builder was a $29.95 recruitment scheme launched in 2011.

In 2015 Mason (right), launched at least five dubious schemes:

• Paradise Payments (February 2015) – a $2 to $1000 cash gifting scheme
• Magnetic Gratitude (April 2015) – a $580 matrix-based Ponzi scheme
• Summer Fun Matrix (July 2015) – a $22 three-tier Ponzi scheme and
• 3×9 Millionaire Machine (September 2015) – a $3 in, $435 million dollars out Ponzi scheme
• Instant Pay Christmas (November 2015) – a $5 to $800 cash gifting scheme

In 2016 Mason doubled down on his efforts and launched Elite Pay Alliance (matrix-based cash gifting), 5 Dolla Money Lines (pass-up chain-recruitment), Adstraordinary (matrix-based cash gifting) and Cash Rally GPS(Ponzi cycler).

So far this year Mason has launched Easy Odds, Just Got Bitcoin, 1 Big Bitcoin Team and Stack My Bits and BitQwik. All of Mason’s MLM underbelly launches this year have either flopped at launch or collapsed.

Read on for a full review of the I Like Bits MLM opportunity. [Continue reading…]

Victims of Daniel Filho’s DFRF Enterprises Ponzi scheme are in for a long wait, following the denial of a motion requesting the appointment of a Receivership.

The motion was filed on July 11th by Gailon Arthur Joy, who identifies himself as a DFRF Enterprises victim. [Continue reading…]

Back in June the Zeek Rewards Receiver filed for Final Judgment against outstanding US net-winners. That is Zeek Rewards affiliates who, even five years after the Ponzi scheme was shut down, refuse to pay back the victims they stole from.

On August 14th Final Judgment was granted, rendering the remaining net-winner class liable for the amount they stole plus pre-judgment interest. [Continue reading…]

For all intents and purposes, Chinese regulation of MLM pyramid schemes is of the *winkwink, nudgenudge* variety.

The last major MLM pyramid scheme bust we covered was Nu Skin back in 2014.

After announcing it suspected Nu Skin was a pyramid scheme, a few months later a paltry $781,000 fine was doled out and that was the end of it.

The fraud was far more costly back home. A civil settlement pertaining to its Chinese pyramid scheme activities saw Nu Skin cough up $47 million dollars.

In what might be a sign of changes to MLM regulation going forward, earlier this week the Chinese government announced a crackdown on pyramid schemes. [Continue reading…]

NeoLife are based out of California in the US and operate in the nutritional supplement MLM niche.

Heading up NeoLife is Founder and Chairman, Jerry Brassfield (below right).

As per Brassfield’s NeoLife corporate bio;

At the age of 19, Jerry discovered Direct Sales through a company selling supplements perfectly aligning with his two passions: business & health.

He finally found a business where hard work means more income and in just four years he was worth $5 million (significantly more in today’s terms).

Then he became heart broken when the company failed due to mismanagement. This happened to him time and time again, the hardest part being the negative affect on the relationships he built with his Distributor team… his Distributor Family.

Taking matters into his own hands, Jerry started his own Direct Selling company founded on values which ensure product quality, unlimited income potential, and long-term stability for Distributors and future generations.

Along the way he acquired the NeoLife brand and merged it with his other companies, creating an international industry-leading gem.

NeoLife began as Golden Neolife Diamite International (GNLD International) back in 1954. In 2013 the company was rebranded as NeoLife.

In my research I came across both NeoLife and GNLD International interchangeably used to refer to the company.

Apart from a few recalls and minor labelling issues, to date NeoLife has not had any run ins with regulators. For an MLM company that’s 73 years old, that’s quite an achievement.

Read on for a full review of the NeoLife MLM opportunity. [Continue reading…]

BC Academy surfaced last year as a reboot of the uFun Club Ponzi scheme.

Based out of Malaysia, the ruse behind BC Academy is that affiliates were investing in bookcoins, a silver-backed cryptocurrency.

Following victim complaints from investors, last week Malaysian police arrested two men running the scam. [Continue reading…]